Yes it could be a tempest in a tea cup. However, I think the overwhelming outcry is due to the fact that the Conservatives understand that this pick is very important. Our very way of life is at stake here. The Court has shown in the last 30 years that they do not respect the Constitution. Kelo I think cemented that feeling. Say what you will about liberals at least they fight for their believes. True most of their beliefs are nuts but they fight for them. Is it too much to ask that since we won the house, the senate, and the White House that our ELECTED leaders act like the winners and not the losers? All the stealth candidates have come from Republican Presidents. the Democrats nominate far left nut cases and they get confirm. Could we not at least nominate a strong verifiable conservative. I don't even care if their position on abortion is known. I want someone that has shown that they respect the Constitution and the original meaning of the Constitution. No one respects a coward and that is what it appears the Republicans did here they blinked. We are in a war here and I think the only ones who truly understand this is the liberals.
I agree with you in most respects, particularly the seeming unwillingness of Republican politicians to fight for principle with the same vigor shown by the liberals. On abortion, I think if a nominee was known to be opposed to legal abortion/Roe, there is zero chance of confirmation. I hope that this candidate is strongly pro-life and that her silence on this point in the past will allow her to be confirmed now. I think a previously-unrecognized pro life candidate, as a practical matter, is more valuable than an openly pro-life one who is rejected by the Senate. The point is to get a pro-life Justice not just nominated, but confirmed, after all. And while I agree with you also that "no one respects a coward," I just can't put this down to cowardice until we know that this nominee is not as conservative as we hope she will be. It is possible that President Bush has made a selection who will, as a Justice, uphold conservative principles. No question that this uncertainty is extraordinarily frustrating, but remember the outcome isn't yet known.